Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

Unadilla: One lap with Bob Hannah 1986 Unadilla 250cc U .S. G P winner Bob Hannah launches out of Un adilla 's Gravity Cavity. P robably the most famous m otocross track in the United States that still exists is Unadilla, and the one name that h as become syno ny m o u s wi th U nad i ll a is Bob Hannah. Han na h , who h as three Nat io n a l and Supercross Championships to hi s credit, says th a t his favorite race track 18 is Unadilla. Some of h is accom p lishmen ts there incl ude wi n ni ng th e 250cc U.S . G P in 1986 a nd helpin g lead th e U.S . team to victory at th e Motocross des Na tions in 1987. So, what ' s it lik e r idi n g th e Unadilla tra ck? We'll let Hann ah tell yo u in his own words. "The start is very important, I would sugges t lining up o n th e middle to the ins ide ," said Hannah. " Ha lf th e tim e the re's a pileup in th e first turn , a nd it' s a 900 turn th at everybo dy filt ers wide in. At th e MX des Nations 1 started closer to th e inside o n the 125, a nd I just stopped on the inside in th e first corner and let everybody go wide. They a ll beat me th ere, but a t th e end I ca me ou t good. Plus, I missed th e p ileu p. " After th e first turn , I wo u ld like to be on th e in side to th e midd le of the trac k, a nd the next ~rner is a real tigh t left. There's U!uall y 'one li tt le berm a bou t three inches tall , hard as a roc k with round roc ks in it. It's real slip pe ry and you don't want to get your wh eels,o ut of th e berm. ot herwise you 're go ing down rea l fast. "A fter the left-h ander, th ere's a little bit o f a down grade, a bout a foot or two , which is a litt le 20-foo t straigh t, th en you tak e a hard right, which is th e th ird turn. All th is is rea l slippe ry, dry, and o n ro u nd rocks. These are th e two slip periest • ' secti ons of th e track. "T he fourth corner is real slip pe ry, too , a nd th ere is usu all y o ne or two berms th ere that are fairl y deep. Then the trac k drops down about 20 feet a nd th ere's usu all y a b ig ru t, and th en it starts back up real a brupt it's about a 20 'foot high hill. You can pre-jump over the top of the hill some times , depending o n th e co nd itions. You jump ou t o n to abo ura 100- yard s tr a ig h ta way , w h ic h is us ua lly loamy. "The next left-han d corn er is a littl e slippery, sometimes I go to the in sid e, but if it 's rea l slippery, I'll go to the o u tside. T he re's always a berm on th e o utside. You go abo u t 20 feet an d hit a li ttle foot-and-a-half high jump; yo u go abo u t 10 mor e feet a nd you d rop in to Gravity Cavity. " You ca n hit th at small jump and pre-jump over into Gravity Cavity. You 'll be.in third gea r th ere. There's a lot of G -force at th e bottom, so you ' rea ll y scru nc h th e sus pe ns io n th ere. It 's fas t, you go do wn and wh eeli e at th e bottom. Going up G ra vit y Cavity you wh eeli e a nd loo k for a low spot on the top, or you prejurnp on a li ttl e bump, maybe 15 or 20 feet befor e you get to the top. You sail ove r th e crest and try and.stav as lo w as po ssible. Th er e a re th'e sa me bumps there from 1976. " When you come o u t of G ra vit y Ca vity, you have a nother 80-yard stra ig h taway. Most peo pl e ten d to sweep to the outside in the next right hander; it' s kind o f a ni ce ba nk ed , bowl 'c o rn er. You go in to th ird or fou rt h gea r, downsh ift to second,' a nd if you have the inside line yo u ca n tak e a guy there as yo u head 'into a hard o ff-camber left. That's a good place to pass peop le, yo u can block pass 'em. The in side is a little slow er the re, but if a guy is going on the o u tside, you just run it in straight in front of him a nd br in g him to a dead stop . "T he n you have a ha rd off-cam ber ri ght - low gear, rea l slippery. You have to stay in the line; if you don 't , you ca n go down the hill 50 feet o ff the track. That 's a hard one to mak e. " After that you have a left and rig ht o ff-cam ber turn sectio n; you cha nge ca m be r to o ff-ca m ber, to positive ca m ber, to negative again. Then you go into abo u t a ISO-yard downhill st ra igh taway. It's a gr eat part o f the track because it 's rough a nd fast, th ere are about 10 different lines, then yo u co me into a gia nt ditch at the bottom th a t you just slam into. Yo u 're in th e air, you kind of lea n -it o ver a nd cross it up as you go over a 20 foot hump. You land 'a nd you' re on the gas , and th en the re's abou t three different berms in the next left-h ander, " After tha t left, abo u t 30 yards on the flat which is ro ugh , th ere is kind of a fall-away, 40-yard o ff-ca m ber r ig ht-ha nd tu rn . You ca n st art on the insi de a nd go wide open, clicki ng gea rs , a nd you can fad e to the .o u tside (left ), rig h t to the edge of the track; go 60 yards and you hav e a no ther right-hander-all sweepers. From there, you either leave it in fourth gear or downshift to third for the nex t sectio n, which is inhere n tly muddy. It 's a 60-70 yard mud bog. You better hang on tight, because it can throw yo u o ver the bars. I j ust get my butt back , knees tight a nd wh eelie - go for it. You have to go either wide open or putt. If you try and baby it , you 're go ing down. It 's a good section. "When you come o u t of th e m ud there's an 80° uphill left tu rn. You co me up over a hump, go another 30 yards and take a hard lef t. Shoot out about 40 yards straigh t ahead to a real o ff-ca m be r right-hander. Usuall y th ere's one big mons ter berm, about three-and-a-half feet tall, and on the ou tside of the ber m is a good li ne tha t not too man y people use. It 's a little sof t, but it' s smooth. _ "Then you have a lo ng, slightly off-camber straight to a hill with monster four-foot whoops in it. An y .line is good, I usually tak e th e left line. I cli ck it into fourth gear and then yo u've got to double j ump, prejump, do n't j ump, jump long , a nd everyth ing else just to get u p through the re. It 's neat. You might have it wired at th e begi nni ng of th e, race u ntil yo u ge t a little tired. H it it abo u t two mph slower, and yo u've bl own th e wh ol e thing. Yo u have to hit it just right. I've flipped th e bike fro ntwards befor e th ere a nd so has Rick J ohnson. " T hen you come aro u nd a bowl turn where you can pin it, which tak es you to a marshy sectio n. It 's a little soft, usually abo u t three li nes . Then you co me to a left tu rn then you 've go t slime wi th five or six li nes., - you take the o ne you think is th e shallo west. " T h e n ext t u rn is a p o si tiv ca m ber left, it 's wide a nd most peop le go to th e in side. Abou t 30 feet farther there's a hard right tu rn , and J it's slip pery. Lots of round rocks wit h relatively no berms. You're in abou t seco nd gear, and th ere's lo ts ( of little kick ers coming out o f the 'corn er. And th en it starts dropping off; you hi t fourth gear, it 's fai rly rough , and th en you're go ing to come into about six or eight different ruts. You want your feet up high on the footpegs , so you do n 't drag your feet off. You 're looking down a fai rly ro ugh straight wit h a lot of ru ts, yo u're in fourt h gear, then next thing yo u're looking at is a right, uphill tu rn, with two lines that turn into d I :J or 1

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